Chapter 371: Five

Chapter 371: Five

Jin let Glitch stand well back from the edge while he checked the water.

The broken wall still poured into the gallery, but the surge was easing. Water drained through the low passages as it entered. He watched until the rise slowed, then stopped with almost a metre of bare rock remaining below the shelf.

The cache recess was still clear of it.

So was the upper exit behind them.

He could leave. Both avatars were alive, the two Lives remained unspent, and the guardian couldn’t reach them without climbing.

Jin rubbed a damp thumb against his trousers.

He wanted the reward badly enough that he didn’t entirely trust his first thought about trying again. He checked Glitch’s condition, Flicker’s remaining energy, and the route to the upper passage before looking back at the newt.

Its injured foreleg hung stiffly beneath the water. On the floor, the water had carried its weight. Climbing would make it use that leg again.

But it had no reason to climb towards Glitch.

Jin moved the view towards the cache.

The newt’s head followed Flicker when she drifted nearer the northern wall.

That’s what you care about.

He positioned Glitch near the shelf’s northern end, leaving room behind him to withdraw. Then he sent Flicker to the recess.

She landed on its lip and caught a loose crystal in her beak.

The guardian rose immediately.

Its front claws struck the sloping rock beneath the recess. Water streamed off its plates as it pulled upwards, opening its mouth towards the bird.

Jin waited only until its weight had committed.

Flicker used a short Gale Dash to reach the shelf. The crystal fell from her beak and clicked against the stone beside Glitch.

The newt followed the movement, stretching its head towards the stolen piece. Its good foreleg reached the shelf’s edge. The injured one remained braced below, trembling under the weight.

With its limbs extended, the armour no longer covered the damaged joint properly.

Jin activated Gravity Press through Glitch’s Engine controls, setting the small area over the guardian’s braced forequarters. He kept Glitch’s feet back from the patch and Flicker farther along the shelf.

The newt sagged under the additional downward force.

Its good foot stayed hooked over the edge. The wounded shoulder opened as the other leg struggled to hold.

Glitch struck with Rending Dragon Claw.

The claws drove into the exposed seam. The guardian whistled sharply and slipped, dropping its chest against the rock below the shelf.

Jin released the pressure as the attack ended. Glitch withdrew his forefoot before the creature’s struggling weight could pull him off balance.

The newt’s head swept sideways, jaws snapping.

For an instant, the thin skin beneath its jaw faced upwards. Its good foreleg was still hooked on the ledge, keeping it close when falling back into the water would have saved it.

Jin sent Glitch forward before it could let go.

The drake caught its throat.

His back feet slid on the wet stone. Jin’s stomach tightened as one forefoot shifted towards the edge, but Glitch lowered his body and braced against the rough shelf.

"Hold," Jin whispered.

The guardian battered its tail against the water. Glitch kept his grip, twisting away from the broad plates and into the vulnerable underside.

The thrashing weakened.

Jin didn’t look at the reward marker. He watched Glitch’s feet until the newt finally went still.

[Platehide Newt — defeated]

[Avatar Condition — Glitch: 58%]

He moved the drake back from the edge before letting himself breathe properly.

Flicker stood beside the dropped crystal, wings slightly spread. He gave both avatars a moment while the last of the violent current settled below them.

The shelf hadn’t flooded. The waterline now sat about ninety centimetres beneath it, leaving the recess’s lower lip forty centimetres clear.

Jin checked the exit once more, then brought Glitch to the cache. The drake lay flat, bracing his chest on the shelf, and reached down the half-metre drop. Flicker nudged loose pieces within reach. Anything awkward waited until Glitch had shifted to a secure position.

The first crystal Flicker had dropped still lay beside his forefoot. Jin collected that too. He almost laughed at it: such a small piece to have dragged that huge creature out of its pool.

The newt had guarded the recess before it ever attacked them. He’d noticed, then spent most of the fight worrying about claws and teeth. Next time, he wanted to remember what an enemy cared about before the floor disappeared beneath him.

Jin was in no mood to lose him over the last crystal.

When the objective registered the collection, he sent them along the shelf to the upper passage. Glitch took its narrow turn slowly. Flicker waited beyond it instead of disappearing ahead.

They reached the approach corridor above the flood.

[Weeping Gallery — Guarded Cache: complete]

[Reward: 40,000 Coins]

[Materials: Platehide Newt Scute ×8, Seepstone Cluster ×4]

[Life: 2]

Jin stared at the last line first.

Both still there.

He put the materials into Engine storage. They might sell well once manifested, but manifestation would take Coins, and he wasn’t deciding that while his hands still felt tight around the phone.

The reward had a job already.

[Purchase: Life ×3 — 30,000 Coins]

[Life: 2 → 5]

Five looked much better than two.

He remembered the expanded Highmarch record and resisted treating the number as permission to relax. He still didn’t know how many Lives a comparable event would consume. Five gave him more protection. It didn’t tell him where that protection would end.

The remaining ten thousand from this reward went into his notes beneath a new heading.

Family: 10,000 / 10,000,000 Coins.

One thousandth.

Jin stared at the fraction. He had spent an evening nearly drowning an armoured drake for a line that barely looked started.

Then he looked at the five Lives again. He hadn’t spent the whole reward chasing the larger number. If another unfamiliar cost arrived, he had more between it and his blood.

He saved the note.

Behind him, straw rustled. The real Glitch raised his head and looked towards the feed bucket.

"You were asleep," Jin told him.

Glitch looked back at Jin, then at the bucket again.

Flicker woke on her perch when Jin stood up. By the time he’d fetched a few treats, she was on Glitch’s crest, leaning forward to inspect his hand.

He sat with them while they ate. Glitch’s chin settled heavily against his knee, warm and uninjured. Jin rested a hand between the drake’s horns and left it there.

After a while, he checked the reservation slip.

Thursday, five in the afternoon. Roughly three days left.

He could pay for the egg and its care. He’d checked that properly. The enhancement would take much longer, and he couldn’t promise Elsa when it would happen.

She might prefer to concentrate on Breeze. She might ask questions Jin couldn’t answer without giving away too much. He’d been so pleased to find something for her that he’d nearly made wanting it on her behalf enough.

Flicker pecked his empty palm. Jin showed her both sides of his hand, earning an indignant chirp.

Then he opened Elsa’s contact and sat looking at it.

Buying the egg was something he knew how to do.

He still had to ask his sister whether she wanted it.